Working on setting my shop up to make it easier to cut things on the CNC (what can I say, I work for a company which makes CNC routers) — my initial thoughts are:
Two main categories:
prepare stock for cutting
post-process stock/parts after cutting
For the first, tools which break down stock are obvious:
a cabinet saw — for folks w/ the room, many shops are centered around this tool
a bandsaw — but there are a couple of options for this: portable (possibly w/ a stand?) or a stationary model (ideally of a sufficient capacity and good enough quality to resaw lumber into thinner stock w/o too much loss)
a powered hacksaw — a dedicated tool in a metalworking shop, it has the benefit of essentially being “fire and forget”, since it will lubricate the cut automatically (at least the better models) and will stop the cut automatically when compleat
a track saw — how small can such a tool go and still be useful?
just taking a hand saw to the lumber yard will allow one to break down boards into more manageable/easily transported lengths.
For post-processing, there are a lot of options/tricks/techniques:
small hand saws and files and chisels and gouges — this is how I usually cut tabs and post process stock
deburring tool — if you’re working w/ metal or plastic and don’t have one, stop reading and go get one — even the inexpensive General brand which you can get at pretty much any hardware store is a huge improvement, and the Noga brand is very well-regarded (and at some point, I need to make that upgrade)
multitool (the powered sort) — the Fein Multimaster was recently on sale, so I grabbed one — need to work out where/how it’s going to be stowed, but some customers have sworn by this as the way to cut tabs to free parts from the surrounding stock
die filer — making one of these has been on my “to-do” list for years now, and I’m thinking this will be the impetus to actually do so
a saw for cutting boxes apart — I actually indulged in a Bridge City Tool Works Jointmaker Pro for that
A third category is fancy workholding tricks/techniques which has one notable power tool option — using a pin nailer to secure stock using composite nails — is anyone doing this? How is it working out? I’ve been debating on a pin nailer and this working well might push me over the edge…
One tool which I’ve been fascinated by recently is a hand-powered shaper (insert old machinist joke, “A shaper can make anything, except for money.”) and thinking on how it might be integrated into my workshop resulted in the above rambling.
Curious if I forgot anything, or if folks have any wonderful tricks/techniques to share.
Did think of one oversight — various powered sanders — I have a couple (small 1/3rd pad, belt, tiny belt sharpener), but don’t enjoy using any of them — an oscillating spindle sander makes a lot of sense for parts w/ contours to match, or a disk sander for flat surfaces, or a (larger) slack belt sander for contouring.
I would only add a hand plane (or several?). I like to watch Rex Kruger on YouTube, and he made a comment in one video where he said he pretty much never sands anything because he uses a plane. This has changed me! Planes are awesome. But I still have a sander. I just don’t use it as much as before.
Regarding prepping stock for the CNC, I have been pondering a thickness planer, because I have flattened my spoil board, but I still see weird problems vcarving and I have found that my not as flat as I thought stock was the problem. Plus, I have some old 2x4s ( a lot of them) that I’ve been thinking of using to make stuff and getting them flat would prevent a lot of headaches when trying to use them on my CNC router.
Excellent point, and absolutely an oversight on my part (and I have a modest collection of hand planes which I don’t use enough, though despite Rex, have been considering investing more into Bridge City Tool Works planes, at least their new v2 HP8).
Some folks pair them w/ a thicknessing/drum sander which my understanding is, afford finer control and better dimensionality, but this is something which I haven’t researched.
Don’t have a powered unit due to space/cost and the idea that I should instead by using hand tools (but if that was the case, I’d have better winding sticks than a pair of aluminum angle lengths) — I also need a dedicated woodworking bench…
My current plan is to begin gluing up panels (recently purchased a pair of specialty clamps for this, and planning on 3D printing some more) which I will be preparing and processing entirely on the CNC aside from the glueup (or at least trying) — we’ll see, but modern adhesives are amazing, and I’m fairly confident it will work out well.
My flow for small things is to select the 4/4 boards from the wood store and decide what I am going to make with it.
I then cut the board to a manageable length (around 4ft usually) for my bench top jointer, and then joint one side flat, then plane the other side to parallel and thickness.
Then cut the blanks to length based on what they are going to be.
Since I haven’t had room for anything big, for now all of my power tools that are not “hand tools” are benchtop sized.
I bought a Makita 2012NB 12" planer - I guess 8 years ago? that has been a good planer - except when it came to curly wood, which is what I really like. It’s just so beautiful. With that wood, no matter which direction you feed it in, it will have to cut against the grain in some areas, and even with a brand new set of blades, there is tearout, which is sad.
I was going to upgrade to a new planer with carbide inserts when I found out that I could get a Shelix head for the Makita. So I ordered it and waited, and waited. They wait until they get enough for a production run of cutter heads, so I ended up waiting 15 months or so before it showed up.
It was totally worth the wait. Even with curly wood, there’s no tearout. And the wood is so smooth, you can skip most sandpaper grits and just finish sand with 320 grit. I’ll post a video link shortly.
Quick video I made just to show my dad how well the Shelix head works. This was the first board I ran through it after installing it, and the second pass of the board.
The curly part at the end of the board was tearing out with the regular cutters.
Good point, but I view that as an essential part of a working CNC — the company I work for, Carbide 3D includes a dust boot, and it is expected that customers will get a shop vac — for my part, in a noise-induced, migraine-fueled rage I bought a Festool CT Midi and an Oneida Ultimate Dust Deputy… (we now sell a “Mullet” cyclone, and mentioned the DeWalt Stealthsonic in a Newsletter a while back).
To expand on that, some folks find an air compressor essential for moving dust around (I prefer to vacuum, and if I have to fetch a part out of the vacuum bin, so be it).
I had been considering a helical blade benchtop planer, but I got sticker shock when I saw the prices ($1000+!). If I get one it’ll probably be just one step up from the cheapest. Like $350-$400. Not as good, but it’ll have to do.
What about a decent used but solid planer or jointer, and then upgrade it with a shelix cutter head?
Craigslist, OfferUp, GovDeals… Don’t get impatient and wait for the right deal. Find a good planer or jointer for a good deal, and before you buy it, find out if there is a shelix cutter head for it.
I kind of breezed through the responses and thought I would offer my 2 cents. Go for a 14" bandsaw with resaw capabilities. I’ve owned multiple surface planers and found a 13" one the minimum I would use. I’ve also owned various drum sanders. Currently have a Jet. An Oscillating spindle sander is nice to have, as is an edge sander and a 6"stationary belt sander. A 14" drill press floor model allows you to drill taller things. A compound Miter Saw is nice for accurate crosscuts in a smaller space. Bar clamps, C clamps, and all the clamps you can afford. Scrapers, files, rasps, screwdrivers, awls, etc. Can’t forget the 6" wide cast iron jointer. For me the least used tool is a table saw these days. I would say to be careful of the brands you buy, as many of the machines I bought, including CNC’S are out of business and parts are not available.
Around here you could find deals on FB marketplace all the time.
Yeah, a bandsaw is at the top of the list for power tool to buy when I get a dedicated shop space larger than one end of the laundry room. I do have a small one, but it’s small and incredibly noisy and awkward to get out, and it needs some tuning up to be used for anything other than rough cuts.
Dream workshop tools would be a different discussion (though for me at least, there would be a lot of overlap w/ the current discussion).
It’s always easy to think of larger tools,but smaller less glam tools are like bread and butter… so I would recommend a really good bench vise and soft jaws. And a good “piercing” saw and hacksaw to go with it. Just one comment on the die filer… those files are not made anymore& so are hard to find, but good hand files ( think the ones with little bunnies) are plentiful, I just bought a very nice file with handle for $2…. 3 rd hands, and ‘C’ clamps often save the day and for a really very cool factor a vintage SW Card tap and die set can’t be beat and they are almost being given away on the eBay….joe
I’m not really for running to the toy store without a good idea of what You are planning to build with your CNC. Especially with the knowledge of what you can really do with a CNC, as YOU do. If it were me, I would make a list of project that you want to build in the first year. Then create a draft of materials each project will need to be purchased, And Then I would look at what tools I didn’t own that I would need. Being that you live in a moderate climate you can probably store some tools in your garage.
That being said, The multi tool is top of the list for cutting tabs in wooden and acrylic parts. And I would look at getting a jigsaw as well.
Since I just bought a multi tool, and have both a powered and a hand jigsaw, I’m going to get back to working on projects — did at least manage something of a first pass tidying up a workbench and the pegboard around it on Sunday afternoon, so that’s one more excuse for not working down.
